What to do in the middle of summer

in Texas?

How about getting up EARLY to ride our tandem before the heat and humidity makes it unbearable? Actually we could do that at home, but exploring is always fun and we appreciate a change of scenery.

Speaking of exploring, at the suggestion of our friends, Linda and Mike, we found this very Texan greasy burgers place.

Notice the little sign to the right of the door,

Texans aren’t known for sugar coating, and they tend to speak in a way that is easily understood. 

 (The burgers were outstanding!)

While in College Station, we were roped into invited to be judges in an IBCA sanctioned BBQ contest at Lake Somerville.

Don't we look official?

The ribs were worth spending the day outdoors with a heat index well over 100 degrees. 

A most interesting cooker 

Yep, it's obvious, we are in Texas

Thanks Scott and Lisa for the invite.

We stepped briefly out of the Texan culture for an fun evening with friends eating Italian food, drinking wine at Luigi's

and listening to the amazing Alemay Fernandez singing with a local jazz band.

Of course “book club” at Carney’s meets year- round.

We always look forward meeting up with this group every Tuesday when we are in town.

Summer in College Station always means birthdays to celebrate. We were lucky to celebrate with sister-in-law, Anna on July 4th.

We have had our Texas fix and are headed back to cooler home where the weather rivals Texas at its hottest.

(Because of the almost unbearable heat, Mom didn’t have much on our to-do list. She’s a good mom.)

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Our 4th Annual Texas BBQ is now in the books.

In spite of the heat and humidity, 40 of our friends joined us on the patio and carport for our annual Texas barbecue on Saturday evening. This is an event to which we look forward every year. Yes, it is a bit of work to spruce up the outdoor living space, load and unload tables and chairs, prepare food and clean-up. But it is worth every bit of the time and energy we spend to see our favorite people all together. (And we do have a little help from some of our friends.)

We like to think we are bringing folks together from our different social circles so they  can become acquainted. In reality, we have found birds of a feather flock (or sit) together. So we have tables of church friends, tables of former co-worker friends, and tables of bicycling friends.

After an interruption by listeria, we were happy to have Blue Bell (the official ice cream of Texas) back this year. Folks had a choice of Homemade Vanilla, Rocky Road, Cherry Vanilla, Butter Crunch or Cookies ‘n Cream. (Sadly, Blackberry Cobbler is not yet available.)

In an earlier blog post, we shared our recipes for the barbecue menu of beef brisket (with Captain’s barbecue sauce,) macaroni and cheese, and Jean’s beans. Since we often get requests for the recipes, we are adding them to a separate blog page (see tab at top) to make it easy for folks to print.

The Wanderer is out of storage and being readied for our next road adventure. Stay tuned!

Texas Barbecue

Captain is from Texas where barbecue is synonymous with brisket. Living in the pulled pork region of the country, we throw a Texas barbecue each year to introduce our friends to the Texas style. Our souls are largely fed with meeting new people and making new friends, so our guest lists tends to increase each year. This year we served barbecue brisket, macaroni and cheese, Jean’s beans, watermelon and pecan pie to 55 people on our patio and carport. And, of course, there was an ample supply of Shiner Bock beer and Educated Guess wine.

Captain makes a special Shiner Bock barbecue sauce which he pours over precooked brisket (from Sam’s); ABN makes the macaroni and cheese as well as Jean’s beans. Traditionally we serve a variety of Blue Bell ice cream which most Texans will swear is the only real ice cream. Sadly Blue Bell was not an option this year due to the listeria invasion. (Good news, Texans, Blue Bell has resumed production at its Sylacauga, Alabama plant!)

At this year’s barbecue we celebrated Captains retirement as of August 1! Let the travel begin!!!

Recipes for Captain’s Shiner Bock Barbecue sauce and Jean’s Beans can be found here. 


Here is ABN’s recipe for Mac & Cheese, from a cooking class at Kitchen on the Square in Savannah, Georgia.

Luscious Mac & Cheese

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium Vidalia onion, diced small

3 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups yellow cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups white cheddar cheese, shredded

1 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked al dente

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons paprika (optional)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

 Preheat oven to 400° F. In a large saucepan, sauté onions in butter and olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.  Add flour to pan and stir until mixture is thick. Do not let it stick to bottom of pan. Slowly add cream, stirring to avoid lumps. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer.

3.    Continue simmering, stirring often to keep the bottom from burning, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add all of the yellow cheddar and one cup of the white cheddar. Stir to combine.  

4.    Fold in the cooked macaroni, coating each noodle. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Spread remaining cup of white cheddar over top of macaroni. Toss together the bread crumbs, paprika, a bit more salt and pepper (if desired) and drizzle of olive oil. Spread over the top layer of cheddar.

5.    Bake until top layer of cheese is bubbly and bread crumbs are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!